Seven Shows You May Not Know Are Streaming Exclusively on Amazon

To state the obvious, the world of online episodic streaming is competitive. It's certainly not all about Netflix anymore. But it's crucial to get those exclusive series. Especially if you're Amazon and, as of 2015, the Prime annual fee is making the steep jump from $79 for a one-year subscription to $99.

To state the obvious, the world of online episodic streaming is competitive. It's certainly not all about Netflix anymore. But it's crucial to get those exclusive series. Especially if you're Amazon and, as of 2015, the Prime annual fee is making the steep jump from $79 for a one-year subscription to $99. (As the company pointed out in its alert email, Prime has stayed at the same price point for the past five years.)

So Amazon is on the case to keep the Prime membership worth it. As of April 1, Prime Instant is the sole place viewers can stream Fox's mega fave "24" (it was formerly available on Netflix, but no more -- unless you're in the UK).

Plus, "Downton Abbey," "The Americans," "Justified," "Orphan Black," "Hannibal," "Workaholics" and "Under the Dome," to name a few, can also only be streamed on the site. (Reid Roosefelt is tracking series and films that are on Amazon but not Netflix here.)

Meanwhile, they're hard at work churning out original series, using the method of pilot testing, via user votes and reviews, to gauge how well a show floats with prospective audiences. Four new shows were given full-season pickups March 31; Jill Soloway's "Transparent," Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman's "Mozart in the Jungle," starring Gael Garcia Bernal, "X Files" creator Chris Carter's "The After" and gritty procedural "Bosch."

This comes ahead of an April 2 announcement in which Amazon is expected to unveil plans for its streaming TV box.